Archive for the ‘Movements’ Category

Movements refer to social and environmental movements located within Melbourne associated with contributing to sustainable cities. Although they may appear to be isolated action, they contribute to a larger movement of action and thought. Consider the “relocalisation” movement. If you are part of such a movement with action occurring in Melbourne, Australia, you are welcome to post your experiences on the site. To do so visit the “How to use this site” page and follow the prompts.

A project by Moonee Valley City Council and Wingate Avenue Community Centre has won the top Premier’s Recognition Award in the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2013 for introducing recycling to a community housing estate. The Ascot Vale Housing Estate Household Recycling project defied previous failed attempts to introduce recycling and established a successful, ground-breaking model using targeted and broad-ranging community engagement of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) and lower Socio Economic Status (SES) groups.

The project won the Community category of the awards and then went on to win the night’s overall award. […]

Sustainability Victoria CEO, Stan Krpan, congratulated the Moonee Valley City Council and Wingate Avenue Community Centre project team for their innovative work which delivered recycling to estate’s residents, of whom 55 per cent were born overseas. “A key initiative of this project was the focus on engaging residents from many cultural backgrounds with varying competency in English, in the importance of recycling,” he said. In its first six months, 52 tonnes of recyclables were recovered. Three of the 11 residents who worked on the project secured jobs as a result of their experience.

Now in their eleventh year, the Premier’s Sustainability Awards celebrate efficient use of water, resources and energy, better waste management and recycling practices, the enhancement of the environment and effective, practical community action. The full list of winners of the Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2013 are:

• The Premier’s Recognition Award – Moonee Valley City Council and Wingate Avenue Community Centre, taking recycling to public housing residents • The Premier’s Regional Recognition Award – Victoria Carpets, for their work in energy and emissions reduction in their Bendigo plant • Innovative Products or Services Award – ModWood Technologies for development of Flame Shield®, a wood-plastic composite for building in bushfire areas • Infrastructure and Buildings Award – RMIT University for their Swanston Academic Building: a progressive tertiary learning environment • Environmental Protection Award – Mallee Catchment Management Authority’s project: Restoring the balance in the drought-riven Hattah Lakes • Education Award – Bentleigh Secondary College – a world recognised, very sustainable school • Small and Medium Enterprises Award – Rae-Line for embedding sustainability practices in manufacturing soft trim components for trucks • Large Business Award – Victoria Carpets • Community Award – Moonee Valley City Council and Wingate Avenue Community Centre.

These new techniques and the challenges posed by them will be discussed by Mark Ogge of the Australia Institute and Monash University’s Dr Gavin Mudd. The meeting will include an overview of the CSG industry, what the infrastructure looks like, the scale of this infrastructure and the economic impacts of mining booms including gas. Both speakers have an in-depth knowledge of the topic.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the doom and gloom of our current food system. Amidst the pressure from foreign imports, climate change and the supermarket duopoly, we want to discover the silver lining; the hope and innovation amongst it all, and the people who are forging the way towards a Fair Food future.

As part of Fair Food Week and in partnership with the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, we are setting out to explore some of the major steps that need to be taken to build opportunity, resilience, sustainability, health and ethics back into our food system. The Fed Square Locavored Series curated by The Locavore Edition and held at The Edge at Federation Square gets to the heart of the matter, identifying the rising stars driving the future of food, farming and culinary culture. This is an unmissable Fair Food Week event with great speakers, important stories and local spirit.

And don’t forget, you can choose a ticket which includes a copy of The Field Guide to Victorian Produce, our handy guidebook which helps locavores find growers, producers and providers.

FRESH, good and fair food needs a fresh, new and innovative event to demonstrate its value to all Australians. That’s why the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance are bringing together communities, social entrepreneurs, creative individuals, smart food businesses and even local government across Australia to celebrate the work of Australia’s fair food pioneers – the women and men doing the vital work of creating a fairer food system for all of us.

“It’s a new national event, Fair Food Week”, said Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance spokesman, Nick Rose. Across the country during Fair Food Week there’s a wonderful diversity of events that will attract, intrigue and entertain you: food forums, food workshops, food films, farmers’ fairs, food swaps, community garden and farm tours.

“What we call ’fair food’ is food that is produced in ways that are fair to all and that guarantee nutritional health to everyone in Australia’s food supply chain – Australian farmers, Australian food processors, small to medium size food retailers and, most importantly, we who eat the products of these enterprises”, explained Mr Rose. “Fair food that the farmer has been paid properly for and that is sold through a retail system that is not dominated by the supermarket duopoly that controls 80 percent of Australia’s grocery sales, but that is sold through a truly free market that includes thriving small to medium food businesses to give us – Australia’s eaters – authentic true choice in what we buy and where we but it. It’s good, healthy and tasty food that all Australians have access to irrespective of their income and where they live. This includes Australians living with disability, illness, those living on a government allowance, such as pensioners, and those in remote indigenous communities… the more then five percent of our people who presently live with an insecure and unhealthy food supply”.

Fair Food Week will highlight the fresh, innovative ideas found in the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance’s Peoples’ Food Plan, Australia’s first crowdsourced policy directions document and the result of democratic, consultative forums held across the country.

On the first Sunday of every month at the Brunswick Neighbourhood House, De Carle St, Open Table welcomes friends, families, neighbours and anyone up for a free Sunday feast, and Sunday June 2nd was the first official event. The night was a great success, with around 60 people contributing to the great atmosphere of the evening. Families, elderly locals, residents from nearby community housing, people from community organisations, and other interested locals mingled, sharing food prepared by Open Table’s chef from donations from food rescue organisations and local gardeners. Event collaborator Georgia Hutchison says that “everyone was beaming”.

The next event will be held on July 7, and the organisers will be continuing to develop connections with local community organisations in the month until then, ensuring the invitation to come and share in a Sunday feast is spread as widely as possible. The organisers are also planning a special feast during Fair Food Week to coincide with the launch of the People’s Food Plan.

Australians discard $8 billion of edible food every year in our homes, this is roughly 350kg of food per year in the bin (Source: NSW EPA, 2012). Sadly, this does not even take into account edible food wasted in production, distribution and point of sale. Food that goes to landfill doesn’t biodegrade like it does in your compost – as it rots it releases methane and other greenhouse gases.

Open Table is a not-for-profit food redistribution and community connectedness project. They hold monthly Sunday dinners at the Brunswick Neighbourhood house, using excess food that would otherwise go to waste. The dinners are inclusive, accessible and free. This project addresses the need for greater community connectedness and participation, as well as providing for the material needs of more disadvantaged members of the community. Open Table seeks to bring together disparate groups within Brunswick to greater links and understanding.

Open Table is based on collaboration within: our working group, the Brunswick community, local businesses and supporting organisations. Through the generosity of the Brunswick Neighbourhood house they have a permanent home for the monthly dinners. With support and guidance from Moreland City Council they are able to use the community kitchen to cook delicious vegetarian meals.

Learning from leading international post carbon economy researchers and policy makers

Key messages

1. The probability and risks of global warming of four degrees or more are rapidly increasing. This is, however, an argument for visionary leadership and decisive action – not political paralysis and buck-passing.

2. The technological and economic roadmaps showing the actions we need to take to avoid catastrophic global warming are now widely understood. From Germany to California and from the United Kingdom to China the global momentum for implementation of large scale de-carbonisation strategies is rapidly accelerating.

3. The biggest roadblocks preventing implementation of large-scale de-carbonisation strategies at the speed required to prevent runaway climate change are primarily political not technological. The key roadblocks are:

Climate science denial

The power of the fossil fuel industry and its allies

Political paralysis

Unsustainable consumption of energy and resources

Path dependencies and outdated infrastructure

Financial and governance constraints

4. The key actions needed to overcome these political roadblocks are:

Clear understanding of the necessity and possibility of an emergency speed transition to a just and resilient post-carbon future

Broad recognition of the potentially enormous social and economic benefits of switching investment from fossil fuels to energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon sequestration

Game changing social and technological innovation

Decisive leadership and skilful implementation by communities, business and government at every level of society

Australia is one of the sunniest continents on earth, so producing power from the sun just makes sense. This has been recognised by millions of Australians who have chosen to take energy generation into their own hands. One million rooftop power stations are now lighting up homes around the country. And many more households are looking to solar as a way to manage their energy bills, creating cleaner energy along the way.

To date ordinary Australians have invested $8 billion of their own money in solar – a massive investment in clean energy generation in the grid. The solar revolution IS happening at an astounding pace – the price of solar is plummeting, making solar more affordable than ever, and rates of uptake continue to rise rapidly. But despite the many reasons to go solar, some big energy companies don’t want to see Australians take back control of their own energy needs. They want to make connecting to solar harder, not easier.

Solar Citizens is a new community project to bring together existing and future solar owners to ensure the rights of solar owners are protected and to help see Australia put a panel on every rooftop.

Solar Citizens will work to ensure:

Every Australian is able to take up the benefits of solar in their home or in their community

Solar homeowners are paid a fair price for the power they contribute to the grid

Solar homeowners are able to connect to the grid

Solar homeowners are not subject to unreasonable charges or tariffs

If you want to ensure your rights as a solar owner are protected or if you believe in a solar future for all Australians join Solar Citizens today.

Solar Citizens is an initiative of 100% Renewable – a community organisation to help Australia move towards a renewable energy future. The project is non-partisan and independent of any political organisation or party.

“Choose Tap” aims to promote the benefits of drinking tap water as part of a healthy lifestyle and as a positive alternative to bottled water. More than a billion people worldwide do not have access to safe drinking water – but sometimes in Australia we take our quality tap water for granted.

We spend more than $500 million a year on bottled water, which is not only putting greater strain on the environment, it’s an expense we could easily avoid. Melburnians are rightly proud of our tap water, which is primarily sourced from protected natural catchments and requires very little treatment before we drink it. As many have discovered after a trip interstate or overseas, our water is great to drink!

Medical experts agree that during summer, people should drink at least 8 glasses of water per day – more if they have been exercising or outdoors. Water is the best source of hydration and is calorie free – and of course it is an absolute bargain compared to any other drink.

Yarra Valley Water through the Choose Tap program is working in partnership with cafes and restaurants that serve tap water to their customers. Many cafes and restaurants are already serving tap water, as after all, Melbourne has some of the best tasting drinking water in the world!

As part of the program, Yarra Valley Water is providing participating cafes with Choose Tap glass water bottles, fact sheets for customers and staff, as well as a Choose Tap shop front sticker to recognise that they serve tap water.

The program is being launched in High Street Northcote as well as selected businesses across our service area with the scope to roll out across the Yarra Valley Water district (from Stonnington in the South East across to the Yarra Ranges and up North to Wallan) in 2013.

Ever wondered how your suburb and Melbourne could look like if you had a chance to design it? Where would you start? Maybe with a basketball court in your local park, a tramline or a veggie patch on your nature strip?

There’s finally a site to share and support ideas on how to enhance our suburbs and identify the places and things we love about them. CreativeSuburbs.com.au offers ways to connect with people and organisations who want the same thing, share knowledge and resources and make good things happen.

Let relevant organisations know how you think your suburbs can evolve, how much you love them and other ideas you may have on planning our city’s future.

Creative Suburbs has also launched the first consultation project: Our Love of the Queen Victoria Market. The marke is a thriving and vital place pulsating with life Creative Suburbs wants to know what you love about the Queen Victoria Market, why you shop at the market, the places you love and if there are any special secrets you know about. The space will be used to share and support ideas on what we love about the market and ideas will be communicated to our Lord Mayor Robert Doyle.

If you want to consult a specific issue, write us an email. We can customise what and how you consult for any amount of time.

Sustainable Melbourne’s mothership, the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL) has become a Green Apes Jungle Guardian (!!!) and so we’re doing a shout-out to our networks to let you know that the Green Apes app is now available online.

We (VEIL) are pretty interested in behaviour change tools that are appealing, fun, or just not mind-numbingly terrifying. A quick look at the YouTube video and the website indicates that this app might be quite fun to use, although it’s pretty new (version 1.1) and may have a few issues. It also requires a facebook log-in. What will be really interesting is what happens if/when it reaches a large audience of users and glitches get ironed out. Unexpected (and hopefully awesome) results should follow.